Remember the adrenaline surge you had when you were told you鈥檇 be going on a field trip? That feeling seems to be happening less often for students these days.
In my home state of Connecticut, some school administrators report that field trips are virtually fading away. Among the reasons cited in are a lack of funds for such extracurricular experiences, the high cost of fuel for transportation, and a hesitation to take groups of students into large cities and other public places.
But the reason that captured my attention and gave me pause was this: because the administrators feel pressured to have students perform better on standardized tests, and therefore can鈥檛 justify the time away from the classroom and the prescribed 鈥渃urriculum.鈥�
As someone who has taught for 10 years in two Connecticut suburbs, I鈥檝e led students on many field trips. The purposes of these excursions have changed a bit, I鈥檝e found, since I was in school in Connecticut. I remember, for example, going to Hartford鈥檚 Bushnell Park, the first publicly financed municipal park in the nation, for lunch. At Yale University鈥檚 Peabody Museum, my class got to look at dinosaur bones. And we watched seals do tricks at Boston鈥檚 New England Aquarium. In general, I think, we went to these places for no apparent reason other than to experience a new cultural opportunity. My memory about them is hazy, but I doubt that there was a significant school tie-in.
Mainly for reasons of accountability, school administrators demand that field trips have a curricular connection. ... But this can be taken too far.
Now, mainly for reasons of accountability, school administrators demand that field trips have a curricular connection, which, I submit, makes sense. But this can be taken too far, which seems to be what is happening in some school districts, particularly those in urban areas where field trips are falling under serious scrutiny. Classroom instructional time is deemed so critical in these places that spending a few hours at a meaningful theatrical performance, for instance, might be considered a waste of time.
Threats to field trips are not limited to Connecticut. Recent media reports indicate that districts in Charleston, S.C.; Hesperia, Calif.; Framingham, Mass.; and Corning, N.Y., among others, have either cut funding for field trips or are considering cuts.
鈥淭he biggest reason,鈥� the interim superintendent of New York鈥檚 Corning-Painted Post Area School District told a television interviewer, 鈥渋s probably the expectations relative to testing. We just can鈥檛 allow students to be out of the classroom for long periods of time anymore.鈥�
Fewer field-trip opportunities are an awful thing for all students, but particularly for those children who could benefit most from a day at a museum or a playhouse. Before field-trip cuts become more widespread, it might be helpful for key education figures to stop and evaluate the learning styles of students. Here, as an aid, is my own simplified classification of students:
鈥� Student A learns well sitting at a desk. He actually likes the confines of a classroom, reading books, writing essays, taking notes. He stays in for recess and enjoys a classroom鈥檚 cinder-block walls, fluorescent lights, and old, tile floors. He absorbs every word his teachers say.
鈥� Student B tolerates the classroom, but she gets fidgety at a desk. She conforms, essentially, to the expectations of a public school鈥攂ehaviorally and academically. But she needs varied instructional approaches. Experiences like field trips are highlights.
鈥� Student C does not learn well in a classroom. For whatever reasons鈥攍earning disabilities, problems focusing, having other weaknesses and strengths鈥攈e is totally hands-on. He would get a lot more out of his education if, starting in 8th grade, he attended a traditional school for half a day, then spent the afternoon as an apprentice in various fields of work. He might shadow a carpenter, work on a farm, or intern at a hospital or a small business, like a restaurant or a bank.
The lack of field trips affects any of these groups, but particularly the latter two. They need more than a classroom can provide.
A school career devoid of cultural experiences such as field trips can have broad implications. In a 2006 interview, the Harvard University economist Ronald Ferguson pointed to 鈥渄ifferences in life experience鈥� as a key determining factor for learning gaps. 鈥淎chievement gaps are not facts of nature,鈥� . 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to figure out how to get all kids the kinds of experiences that really maximize access to middle-class skills. That鈥檚 the challenge.鈥�
In my experience, magical things happen on field trips. As part of a storytelling unit I created using Norman Rockwell illustrations, my students have gone to the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. Arriving on the museum鈥檚 bucolic grounds, I can sense the students鈥� excitement at the chance to see in person the iconic illustrator鈥檚 work. Once inside, docents escort them around in small groups, stopping at specific paintings to explain the ideas behind them.
Fewer field-trip opportunities are an awful thing for all students, but particularly for those children who could benefit most from a day at a museum or a playhouse.
On one trip, a group of my students gathered in front of 鈥淭he Runaway,鈥� a classic Rockwell scene in which a Massachusetts state trooper鈥攊n full uniform鈥攊s sitting beside a young boy, the so-called runaway, at the counter of a diner. We had discussed this print in class before the visit, so the children were familiar with it. One student was sitting cross-legged on the wood floor in front of the painting, locked into every word the docent said. This student did not always pay attention in class, and usually handed in work that was not exceptional. Yet when the docent asked questions, this student answered just about every time. If the answer wasn鈥檛 right, it was a good guess. I remember thinking, 鈥淗ow is this kid doing it?鈥�
Later that day, we visited the summer home of Daniel Chester French, the famous artist who sculpted the Lincoln Memorial, also located in Stockbridge. After a tour of the artist鈥檚 studio, home, and the beautiful grounds, students boarded the bus. When I asked them to reflect on what they had learned, the most insightful comment came from someone who was usually a behavior problem back at school. On this day, though, and in this alternate setting, the student seemed almost compelled to learn, recalling fine details of information that the tour guide perhaps mentioned only once.
I feel fortunate to work in a district where such trips are valued. To the administrators, teachers, and parents in districts where standardized testing reigns, I would urge that they support a few meaningful trips outside the classroom each year. If paying for them is the problem, perhaps they could secure funding from outside sources, by forging relationships and applying for grants from local businesses, for example.
Field trips broaden students鈥� lives, provide them with valuable cultural experiences, and鈥攚ho knows鈥攑erhaps give them a store of background knowledge for their next bubble-in test.
